Salton Sea

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power announced Tuesday that it has shelved plans for a 970-acre solar farm near the Salton Sea, just as members of the City Council signaled that they were unprepared to support the project. The DWP's interim general manager, S. David Freeman, said he was troubled by the costs of the 55-megawatt project, which had been slated to go up on land purchased by the utility in 2006. Freeman made his comments moments after Councilwoman Jan Perry, who heads the council's Energy and the Environment Committee, said she planned to send the solar project back to the DWP for more work.

SALTON SEA STATE RECREATION AREA - During the heyday of the Salton Sea, when the Hollywood crowd and others came to play in large numbers, this strip of beaches, campsites and fishing spots along the sea's northern shore was one of California's most popular parks. But that was years ago. The popularity of the recreation area has plummeted in recent decades, and now the area is on a list of parks to be closed because of the state's financial woes. Unlike other parks slated for closure, this one may never come back, park officials said.

Penny Puckett came to Slab City and fell in love. After four years of "bumming around and hopping freight trains," the 25-year-old from Kansas City arrived at this hardscrabble section of the Imperial Valley desert and immediately embraced its sense of liberation from society's rules and norms. What others might view as desolation and deprivation, Puckett saw as a way to reduce life to its essence: water, food and shelter (plus Internet and cellular phone service). PHOTOS: Slab City "Slab City people have a great need to live with just the bare necessities and are happy about it," she said.

Penny Puckett came to Slab City and fell in love. After four years of "bumming around and hopping freight trains," the 25-year-old from Kansas City arrived at this hardscrabble section of the Imperial Valley desert and immediately embraced its sense of liberation from society's rules and norms. What others might view as desolation and deprivation, Puckett saw as a way to reduce life to its essence: water, food and shelter (plus Internet and cellular phone service). PHOTOS: Slab City "Slab City people have a great need to live with just the bare necessities and are happy about it," she said.

IMPERIAL, CALIF. Salton Sea International Bird Festival When, where: Feb. 11-14, Imperial Valley College plus various field locations Highlights: See as many as 100 bird species a day at the Salton Sea and the Pacific Flyway. Events include a marsh bird symposium, expert-led tours, seminars, workshops and a learning area for children. Cost: $100 for all scheduled events, or $25 to $50 per event Info: www.newriverwetlands .com/saltonsea2010.

Only nature could create such a majestic scene, right? Well, nature or burst flood-control gates. The Salton Sea in Southern California was created in 1905 when spring flooding broke down the canal gates leading to the Imperial Valley, causing waters from the Colorado River to rush into a  depression in the Colorado Desert. Today, the Salton Sea area, about 60 miles northeast of San Diego, attracts  birdwatchers, hikers and other visitors. Times reader "tommy750" captured this scene.

Re "Salton Sea Is Dead--Keep It That Way," Commentary, June 18: Ivan Colburn is right. Moreover, all public spending involves trade-offs. Congressional saviors of the Salton Sea might consider how many beneficial water-recycling projects to serve thirsty Southern California will be scrapped to find the funding for this harebrained idea. Perhaps we can find a more fitting monument to remember Sonny Bono than the Coachella/ Imperial Valley-fed agricultural holding pond (sewer) known as the Salton Sea. The delicate Mojave Desert environment cannot support even more recreational use than that which already exists.

Salton Sea sense Re "Salton Sea battle," Nov. 20 I'm really getting tired of the "Salton Sea battle," especially in light of the billions in tax dollars needed to preserve the lake. It's time to do one of two things, both drastic. In heavy snow years, like last year and perhaps this year, find a way to flood the sea with freshwater from the Colorado River. That's how the sea was created almost 100 years ago. That, or stop trying to defeat nature and let it dry up, retuning it to the original ancient lake bed it was before its flooding.

Salton Sea sense Re "Salton Sea battle," Nov. 20 I'm really getting tired of the "Salton Sea battle," especially in light of the billions in tax dollars needed to preserve the lake. It's time to do one of two things, both drastic. In heavy snow years, like last year and perhaps this year, find a way to flood the sea with freshwater from the Colorado River. That's how the sea was created almost 100 years ago. That, or stop trying to defeat nature and let it dry up, retuning it to the original ancient lake bed it was before its flooding.

Over the last five years, the Salton Sea's shoreline has been steadily receding into the desert, creating a "bathtub ring" of exposed lake bed around the 360-square-mile body of murky water that straddles Imperial and Riverside counties. Once, it was one of the most productive fisheries and wildlife habitats in the state, but the shrinking Salton Sea has hit hard times. Along with imperiling the fish that live in the hyper-saline water and the migratory birds that stop along their annual journey, the shrinkage exposes a pesticide-laden lake bed that could contribute to the dust storms that have given the region some of the dirtiest air in California.

A 2003 water pact between the Imperial Valley and San Diego County was supposed to be good for both parties, and for California. But the agreement — billed as the largest sale of water from farms to cities in the nation — is snared in litigation and the outcome is uncertain. No sooner had the pact been signed than it came under attack by environmentalists, farmers and the Imperial County Board of Supervisors. One major point of contention is that the Salton Sea could become saltier and shrink if farmers reduce agricultural runoff into the sea because water is being sold to San Diego County.

Shot in the dusty desert of California, where the Salton Sea was once intended as a getaway oasis and is now a near-abandoned ghost town, the hybrid film "Bombay Beach" is more lyrical tone poem than straightforward documentary. Directed and shot by the Israeli-born photographer and video artist Alma Har'el, the film interweaves footage of residents in their real, regular lives and also captured in staged reveries of dance while following three subjects: a young boy, an old man and a transplant from South Central Los Angeles looking for a fresh start.

Researchers believe Colorado River damming projects that followed the creation of the Salton Sea could be one reason why Southern California is overdue for a major earthquake. In a new study led by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, scientists found that the floodwaters that periodically flowed through faults helped trigger earthquakes in the area, including several large ones along the mighty San Andreas. The modern Salton Sea came to life nearly a century ago when record floodwaters from the Colorado River overwhelmed barriers, and during the course of two years created the massive body of water in a desert sink.

Come fall, Californians could find themselves with fewer parks to visit and fewer services available at parks that are open. That was the tenor of the plan that California State Parks officials outlined Friday as they targeted for shutdown 70 of the state's 278 parks because of budget problems. But don't panic. The closure plan is far from final, and in the meantime, summer camping reservations are being honored, officials said. Several parks on the hit list are in Southern California , including popular and well-known places such as: McGrath State Beach near Ventura, which draws campers and bird-watchers; Fort Tejon State Historic Park in the Grapevine Canyon north of Los Angeles, with restored adobes and exhibits on Army life; Palomar Mountain State Park in San Diego County, near the world-famous Palomar Observatory, which offers mountainous hiking trails with views of the Pacific; And the quirky and fascinating Salton Sea State Recreation Area in Riverside County, known for its bird life and infamous for its periodic mass die-offs of fish.

Only nature could create such a majestic scene, right? Well, nature or burst flood-control gates. The Salton Sea in Southern California was created in 1905 when spring flooding broke down the canal gates leading to the Imperial Valley, causing waters from the Colorado River to rush into a  depression in the Colorado Desert. Today, the Salton Sea area, about 60 miles northeast of San Diego, attracts  birdwatchers, hikers and other visitors. Times reader "tommy750" captured this scene.

Three days after the earthquake and tsunami devastated northeastern Japan, Gary Fuis walked across the San Andreas fault under a moonlit sky. The desert was quiet. A breeze fanned through the creosote. To the west, he could see the Salton Sea, and to the east, the headlamps of the night crew taking up their positions. In a little more than an hour, they would start detonating their explosives, generating seismic waves that would be recorded by seismometers buried throughout these sandy hills and positioned on the floor of the Salton Sea. A geophysicist with the United States Geological Survey, Fuis is overseeing an ambitious project to create an underground image of one of the most seismically active and geologically complex regions of the country, a triangle of land extending from Palm Springs to the Mexico border.